Galbatorix
Galbatorix was the king of Alagaësia. A one-time Dragon Rider, he eventually turned against the order and brought about their downfall, believing they had caused the death of his dragon.He made a rebellious and brutal group, the Forsworn,and then he then established the Empire. History At the age of ten, a dragon had hatched for Galbatorix. He was given the training of the Dragon Riders, and was accepted as one of their own. He was both proud and foolhardy, but his talent as a Rider was unsurpassed. Madness Along with a few of his companions and their dragons, he entered the Spine out of arrogance. When their party was ambushed by Urgals, all were slain, except for Galbatorix. A stray arrow pierced the heart of his dragon Jarnunvösk, killing the dragon. Driven mad by the loss of his dragon, he wandered in the wild for weeks, becoming so frightful in appearance that even the Urgals avoided him. Eventually, he headed back to the outer edge of the Spine in hope that the elders would grant him a new dragon. A farmer found him collapsed and summoned the Riders. After a few days, he woke up back in Vroengard, the Riders' capital. Coming before the Council, he demanded another dragon. The Council realized that his mind was weakened, and consequently refused to meet his demand. This effectively drove Galbatorix to hatred and insanity. His deranged mind twisted the previous events until Galbatorix began to believe that it was the Riders' fault that his dragon had been slain. Having completely convinced himself of this, he began plotting his revenge. The Fall of the Riders He persuaded a sympathetic Rider to kill one of the Elders. When the deed was done, he then turned on his ally and slew him. He fled into the wild, biding his time. Eventually, using persistent reasoning and dark secrets learned from a Shade, he convinced a young Rider named Morzan to support his cause. Morzan aided him in capturing a black dragon named Shruikan and the killing of Shruikan's rightful Rider. Through the use of certain types of black magic, Shruikan was forced into servitude. , his (stolen) dragon.]] Besides Morzan, twelve other corrupted Riders came to serve Galbatorix. The thirteen together were known as the Forsworn, (or Wyrdfell to the Elves). With the Forsworn behind him, Galbatorix managed to defeat the unprepared Riders, killing Vrael, head of the order. (However, it is stated that Vrael hesitated before the final blow on the gates of Doru Araba.)This brought an end to the peace the Riders had maintained in Alagaësia. The Empire Galbatorix and his followers defeated both the elves and the dwarves, both of whom afterwards went into hiding. Galbatorix then slew the rightful king of the Broddring KingdomTechnically, the Broddring Kingdom still existed, but by the time of the Rider War it was little more than a name upon royal decrees. Most of those under Galbatorix's rule never even knew it existed., and took the title upon himself. His domain became known among his subjects, and to all of Alagaësia, as the Empire. His rule has been ruthless and cruel, and although much of the Empire stayed loyal, there was a small rebellion called the Varden. After becoming King ]] After becoming king of Alagaësia, he stayed in Urû'baen for many years, counting on his allies such as the Shade, Durza, the Urgals, the Ra'zac, and his Imperial Army to keep his empire in line. He also extended his friendship to the son of Morzan, Murtagh, who had been living in his castle. Murtagh accepted the offer, knowing it would be unwise not to. Soon, however, Galbatorix fell into a rage upon learning that rebels had intercepted and destroyed three brigades of Imperial troops, and commanded Murtagh to take a company of soldiers and decimate the village of Cantos, which was known to harbor the rebels. Murtagh refused the order and fled Urû'baen with his faithful teacher, Tornac. Tornac was killed as they escaped the city, but Murtagh managed to survive. Early Rider War Galbatorix hatched a plan to destroy the rebellion. Durza would lead an army of urgals including Nar Garzhvog, Gashz and Tarok to Farthen Dûr, where they would attack Tronjheim, crush the Varden, capture or kill the Dwarf king and his clan chiefs, and then wreak havoc throuout the Beor Mountains, bringing the dwarves to heel, similtaneously weakening the urgals and capturing Eragon and Saphira. The plan failed, and Galbatorix lost the suppot of the urgals and the life of Durza. After the Battle Under Farthen Dûr, Murtagh was captured and again brought before Galbatorix by The Twins. Galbatorix was furious with Murtagh for spiting his protection and defying his will, but when one of Galbatorix's Dragon eggs hatched for Murtagh, Galbatorix made him his greatest general and taught him magic. However, Galbatorix also pried his true name from him and forced him and his dragon, Thorn, to swear allegiance to him. Plans for a new order Galbatorix wished to reestablish the order of the Dragon Riders, bringing them under his control. In order to do this, he had need of Saphira, who was the last female dragon in existence. He sent Murtagh to The Burning Plains with orders to capture both Eragon and Saphira, but Murtagh had compassion for his younger brother and allowed him to escape. Later Rider War Galbatorix was again very angry with Murtagh for allowning them to escape, and when Eragon and Saphira killed the Ra'zac, Galbatorix slew several servants in a rage and then turned his wrath on Murtagh and Thorn. Then, he deployed Murtagh and a group of his painless soldiers to Surda, with orders to bring Eragon and Saphira to him and to not show them mercy. However, Galbatorix's plan failed again when Eragon and Saphira drove Murtagh and Thorn away with the help of Arya and twelve other elves. It is unknown if and how severely Murtagh and Thorn were punished for this failure, but they were still in fighting condition when they reached Gil'ead. When Galbatorix heard the elves were attacking the north of his Empire, he responded quickly, rather than waiting for them to come to him. Murtagh was sent to Gil'ead to damage the elves in any way he could. While Oromis and Glaedr fought Murtagh and Thorn above Gil'ead, Galbatorix possessed Murtagh and asked Oromis to join him. Oromis refused, and the battle continued, Galbatorix swearing to kill Oromis and take Glaedr's heart of hearts. Suddenly, Oromis had one of his spasms and Naegling was knocked from his hand. Murtagh took advantage of the opening and rent Oromis from shoulder to hip with Zar'roc. Glaedr tried to get Oromis back to Gil'ead so Islanzadí's spellcasters could save him, but Oromis died before Glaedr could make it. Glaedr dove back into battle with Thorn, but the red dragon was too quick for him to defeat. Glaedr's physical body died as the smaller dragon struck the back of his head/neck, killing him instantly, but before departing for battle he entrusted Eragon and Saphira with his Eldunari, allowing his mind to live on in the gem. Role in the Eragon movie Though Galbatorix has not yet physically appeared in the books, he did appear in the movie, portrayed by John Malkovich. Throughout the movie, he is seen giving orders to Durza. In his throne room in the movie, he has a dragon-like throne and a map nearby which, at the end of the movie, he cuts down, revealing Shruikan behind it. In the movie he is bald, with a beard and long nails. He's depicted as calm and very intelligent in the movie, and only shows any frustration at the end after Durza's failure. Most of his backstory has been left out so far, and in addition to that, he aims to kill Eragon as well as Saphira, as opposed to trying to use Saphira to recreate the dragons like in the book. Real-world connections Galbatorrix has been nicknamed "Galby" by fans. Motives There has been a great deal of discussion among fans, about whether or not Galbatorix truly is evil, or if does have good reasons for his actions. Some fans believe that his attempt to reestablish the Dragon Riders is proof of this theory. Others say he merely wants to rebuild the Riders to get more power to himself, and when he creates his new Empire, he and his Riders(Murtagh among them) will rule in tryanny like he and the Forsworn always have. He may redeem himself in the end or end up making a mistake and die hated. Comparisons Galbatorix is comparable in characterization to Morgoth of "The Silmarillion", Sauron of The Lord of the Rings - as a "dark lord" and the primary antagonist of the work - and Emperor Palpatine of the Star Wars saga; he resembles Palpatine in his rise to power and unexpected overthrowing of the established order, replacing it with an Empire. Another character from Star Wars he resembles is Anakin Skywalker. He showed great skill, prowess, talent, and potential in his youth, was accepted into the ranks at a young age, gained incredible raw power as he matured, and eventually betrayed the order and slew many of his former comrades. In both cases, two of the principal causes were the death of someone close to him and being denied a request by the council. He can also be compared to Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter books. He was a dark lord with unparralled skill in magic, especially dark magic, and wanted to take over the world with the help of his servants,(The Forsworn/Death Eaters) whom he trained in his black arts. Galbatorix also experiments with vessals that hold souls, the Eldunari, just as Voldemort experimented with Horcruxes, which he could use to house his own soul. References and notes Category:Characters Category:Magic users Category:Humans Category:Dragon Riders Category:Imperials Category:Dark magic users Category:Royalty Category:Males es:Galbatorix